


Snip

by begleiter



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Comedy, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-12 01:28:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11726649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/begleiter/pseuds/begleiter
Summary: Tori gets a haircut.





	Snip

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's spelled 'Touri' but anything besides 'Tori' looks super weird to me, I'm sorry.

Tori was endlessly spoiled and only occasionally denied any of his material desires. More intangible assets, on the other hand - freedom, privacy, bodily autonomy - were much rarer treats. Arguments over them happened much the same way every time: Tori would want to watch a movie or a TV show, or read a book or manga, or listen to a certain song, and if the movie or book or song in question was meant for anyone over the age of twelve then someone (usually Yuzuru) would swoop in, review the material, and then present Tori with a censored version a few days later. Every time Tori would whine and fuss and plead with his parents to drop this restriction, and every time he was told that they were only looking out for him, that they understood where he was coming from, and they'd ease up their restrictions within a few years but for now this was for the best.

And it was hardly restricted to entertainment. Any effort to change his taste in fashion, his hobbies, his diet, his bedtime… all were met with caring but stubborn resistance from his family, along with promises that one day he'd be old enough and smart enough and experienced enough to make his own decisions, but for now he needed to do as he was told. Usually he gave in. Sometimes he threw a tantrum. It didn't seem to matter what he did, because either response just convinced his keepers that he really _wasn't_ ready to make such a heavy choice between whether he wanted pork or chicken for dinner.

Inevitably, he and his guardians had another disagreement, late into his second year at Yumenosaki. This time it was different, however.

This time it was over a haircut.

Tori had worn his hair the same way for years. Fringe across his forehead, long tails framing his face, fluffy layering in the back, and his stubborn cowlicks on the top, purposefully kept short so that they would stick up more easily. It had suited him well in his early days as an idol but he'd grown a whole five centimeters since spring. His childish look no longer fit. He needed an image change to something more elegant, and fast. Luckily, he already knew exactly what he wanted.

No one but Tori was shocked when his parents said no. He tried to explain his position first. When that didn't work, he tried begging. Then demanding, and then shouting, and then finally storming off with tears pricking the corners of his eyes. As usual, his tantrum was ignored. Yuzuru would be along in exactly half an hour to usher him to dinner, or into the bath, or into doing some other pointless, stupid, banal thing no matter how much Tori wanted to sit and sulk and say no and then everyone would pretend nothing had happened.

When he returned to his room and slammed his door shut behind him, Tori didn't have any particular plan in mind. He threw himself on the floor and buried his face in King's fur, stubbornly snuffling and scrubbing at his eyes so that he could deny ever having cried. After a few moments he grew bored of that and shoved himself to his feet, looking around for some other way to rebel when something caught his attention. There was a pair of scissors on his desk, and though they of course had rounded points they were perfectly sharp. Certainly sharp enough for…

In an instant, Tori made his decision. He snatched up the scissors and rushed to the bathroom without a trace of doubt in his mind, yanking the door shut behind him and twisting the lock. He knew to hop into the shower to wet his hair first (he wants to find Yuzuru just to point that out to him, to show off that he _isn't_ stupid and knows how haircuts work) and after that he was in front of the mirror and ready to work. The tails came off first, two quick snips straight across. He attacked the tips of his hair next, clipping off the ends about where he thought the little flips would start. Getting the back was a little trickier but with a little bit of twisting he managed to start working on the layers on the back of his head as well.

Everything was going perfect, up until he felt the cool touch of metal against his scalp.

\- 

There was a particular routine Yuzuru went through whenever Tori threw a tantrum: tolerate the tantrum with a smile, suggest Tori do something relaxing to cool off, and then, once Tori stormed off, wait exactly thirty minutes before tracking him down and getting him back on schedule. It worked out well for both of them. Tori was usually cooled off enough to stop fighting him for no reason and Yuzuru was usually cooled off to not say anything that might be egregious enough to get back to Tori's parents. Win win.

Tori wasn't in his room when Yuzuru came for him, but that was hardly odd, especially not when the closed bathroom door was an obvious hint as to where he'd gotten off to. Yuzuru crossed the room (giving King, who looked _far_ too happy to see him, a wide berth) and knocked lightly on the bathroom door. 

"Young master. It's time for dinner." No response, unless you counted a soft hiccuping sort of sound - which Yuzuru certainly did not. He knocked again. "Young master, you--" There was another soft sound from inside, but this time it sounded more like… a sob? And sniffling. Yuzuru was well aware of the fact that no one else was watching so he didn't try to stop himself from rolling his eyes. Right. Obviously Tori wouldn't be letting the issue go without trying to wring some sympathy out of the situation first. With a sigh Yuzuru turned the doorknob and--

Locked. Huh.

Alright, _now_ Yuzuru was the tiniest bit concerned. Tori didn't usually bother locking doors, seeing as Yuzuru had copies to most of the house keys. Plus, the one time he'd stolen the keys and locked _Yuzuru_ up instead, Yuzuru had responded by simply taking the entire door off it's hinges. So for him to do it now… well, If Tori ran off and got himself hurt when Yuzuru was supposed to be watching him then only one of them would be getting in trouble.

Luckily, Tori _hadn't_ stolen his keys this time and Yuzuru had the door open in seconds. What he saw beyond was nothing short of carnage: a trail of water from the shower, a pair of scissors on the sink, Tori's face muddled with snot and tears, and strands of pink hair strewn across the floor. Yuzuru simply started for a moment, swallowed, then gave a sharp cough that certainly wasn't an attempt to cover a laugh.

\- 

The salon did their best, but despite their reputation they weren't miracle workers. The front was salvageable, the stylist had said, but the back had been cut too short in too many places to be saved. Tori sat there in miserable silence as she took scissors and electric clipper to his hair and refused to look at his new style until he was home, whereupon he burst into a fresh wave of tears.

The style he ended up with was quite fashionable but, in his opinion, suited him terribly. Most of his hair had been clipped into shorter layers that looked best when they were teased into soft spikes with gel, but a good majority of the back had been shaved down into an undercut, nothing more than a soft pink fuzz. It wasn't cute _or_ elegant. He fell asleep wishing this was all some sort of awful dream and, when he woke up the next morning, made his way to school with his dread growing steadily each step of the way. Still, he refused to let himself look down about the situation.

He was doing just fine until he ran into the last person he wanted to see right at the front gate. Tsukasa Suou (who had, infuriatingly enough, grown _ten_ centimeters since spring) stood by the front gate, conversing with two of his unit mates - or rather, conversing with Arashi while Ritsu appeared to sleep while standing upright. Tori tried to hurry past them, but Arashi caught sight of him and let out a stunned _Oh **no**_ as he covered his mouth, and that was enough to have Tsukasa turn and glance over his shoulder. His reaction was less subdued; he let out a choked, coughing laugh and whipped his head back around, shoulders shaking. 

Tori stormed past them without waiting to see if Ritsu would wake up and add his own commentary, silent lyfuming that _Arashi_ had an undercut, too, and hardly had room to laugh. He _hated_ Knights he silently raged to himself. They were a stupid, washed up unit with no more place in the school, and Ritsu was useless and sleepy, and Arashi should just be go a model if he cared about his makeup so much, and Tsukasa's entire face was stupid, and--

"Tori-kun?" Hajime's soft voice cut through Tori's inner monologue. Tori whipped his head around and snapped out a sharp _What?_ only to immediately feel like a jerk when Hajime shied back, the smile on his face fading. Tori slowed to a stop and crossed his arms, trying his greeting again.

"What is it, Shino?" He didn't really sound any less cranky but he didn't really care. He was too preoccupied with sliding Hajime a sullen, envious look. _Hajime_ had been allowed to grow his hair out. It fell past his shoulders now, the majority of it pulled back into a ponytail aside from two thick strands left free to frame his face, with a rabbit-decorated barrette keeping his fringe out of his eyes. The barrette in question looked tacky and cheap to Tori, but Hajime had rarely been seen without it since his birthday earlier that year.

"Are… are you in rush?" Hajime's voice was halting and anxious, like usual, but Tori only waved his hand in impatient irritation at the sound.

"I'm fine! Just hurry up and say it!"

"Oh…" Hajime still looked a little uncertain, but after a moment his expression melted into an embarrassed smile. "I just wanted to say, I really like your new haircut!" Tori shot him a startled look and Hajime rushed to add, "It makes you look really cool!" Tori continued to stare and Hajime's smile slipped again, once more taking on an anxious cast. "But… I mean, I also liked your haircut before… This one is just really different. Before it was cute, and now it's--" Someone called out Hajime's name, making the other boy jump and whirl around with wide eyes, but it was just the other members of Ra*bits. Hajime looked back to Tori, expression still anxious, then bid him farewell before he all but fled down the hallway to where Mitsuru and Tomoya waited for him. Tori, still standing stock still, simply stared after him.

\- 

Later, at lunch, Tori dragged a chair up to Hajime's desk and slammed his bento down, startling a terrified squeak out of Hajime. Tori went on to announce that he wasn't hungry and, somehow, disliked every single food Yuzuru had made for him that day. Obviously, Hajime needed to take his bento instead. When Hajime weakly insisted that he already had food for the day, Tori flat out _ordered_ him to take it home and have it for dinner or a snack instead.

Then he sat down and changed the subject. He knew that one of the other Ra*bits tended to spike his hair, and that Hajime both shared a class with the flashiest member of Ryuseitai and tended to volunteer with the other units and first years. There was no way he didn't know what brand of mousse or hair gel would be best to use on his hair.

Once he returned home Tori locked himself in the bathroom once more, but this time he left his scissors on the desk. Instead he brought his phone and went through the process of taking careful photos of him hair: head on, both sides, and as much of the back as he could get, taking several shots from each angle to ensure he got good ones. This haircut was _okay_ , he supposed, but next time he went to the salon there were a few small but critical changes he wanted to make.

Luckily, he already knew exactly what he wanted.


End file.
